The U.S. authorities have taken new steps to strengthen sanctions against China, reported Bloomberg. The U.S. has found 31 other Chinese companies to be untrustworthy in supplying US technology to China, and now they will have to prove that they are not related to the PRC defense industry. If confirmations are not received or requests are ignored, the companies concerned will be finally sanctioned by the U.S.
The main purpose of such events is to ensure that the components and technologies of American origin do not fall into the hands of the Chinese military, even if they are exported through third countries. The source does not specify which companies are "suspected" but notes that all of them are registered in China. At this stage, these companies will receive notifications from the relevant United States agencies in which they will be asked to go through the export control procedure by declaring the end-use of products from the United States. If the concerns of the United States authorities are in vain, the Chinese company will avoid being placed on the "black list." If the evidence appears unconvincing, or if the Chinese side ignores the demands of the United States authorities, the company will be placed on a list that prevents it from obtaining a certain range of products from the United States without a special licence from the Department of Commerce of that country.
In addition, as long as these Chinese companies are under investigation, all American deliveries to them will also be subject to a certification procedure. As noted earlier today, in the field of semiconductor production, the new regulations may restrict the supply of technological equipment for the manufacture of memory chips and integrated chips into China. 18 nm and more advanced lithographic technology will be critical for the production of the microscheme, 14 nm for integrated chips and processors, and hard memory will be filtered by the number of layers in the chip, not more than 128. The product equipment will not reach China if it does not meet these requirements, even if it has been released in a third country and is not supplied from the United States.